Latest news with #TheLateNightShow
Perth Now
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Meet the Aussie duo rewiring comedy
In early 2020, appearing on the YouTube interview show Hot Ones, legendary comedian Will Ferrell mused on the future of comedy. Comedy clubs were back then and are now a shadow of their former selves and mere days ago CBS announced the cancellation of The Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert after 33 years on air, 10 of those with Colbert as host. But laughs aren't dead, they're just online now. Social media is proving the new frontier for comedians looking to cut their teeth, allowing budding comics to record sketches, develop characters and grow a platform without the aid of more traditional pathways. Half the world away from that Ferrell interview, comedy duo Swag on the Beat started life in a Melbourne supermarket after an innocent one-take video poking fun at Covid supermarket etiquette gathered almost 30,000 views. Melbourne duo Swag On The Beat made up of Isaac Gibbons and Jack Say. David Crosling Credit: News Corp Australia Today, the duo – made up of Jack Say, 28, and Isaac Gibbons, 29 – have amassed more than 3.3 million followers across Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. Having recently completed a live show tour around Australia, New Zealand and England, Say and Gibbons agreed with Ferrell's assessment that there was no substitute for honing a comedian's craft quite like performing in front of a crowd. However, they argued the nature of social media management meant nowadays comics needed to be a 'jack of all trades'. 'It was an amazing cutting of the teeth moment for us,' Say told NewsWire. 'We learned so much about live audiences, but it feels like now – you hear musicians talk about it as well – not only do you have to 'make the music', but you have to be the advertiser and you have to do all the social media stuff that comes along with it. 'It feels like you almost have to be a jack of all trades and to service each platform with what it requires in order to have a grip in the industry.' The boys just reached one million followers on Instagram alone. David Crosling Credit: News Corp Australia Continuing the aspiration of multi-platform mastery, the duo have cracked into the podcast space. It's a dangerous time to make the move. Internet commentators have complained the market is now so over-saturated that the sale of podcasting equipment ought to be restricted or banned. The boys, however, are finding the change of pace a welcome return to the ad lib comedy style of their younger years. 'Speaking for myself, I wasn't a huge podcast guy, so I guess I was always astounded by the amount of podcasts out there that have strong listenership,' Gibbons said. 'Obviously, it's a growing platform and there's people that listen to all kinds of content. And I think rather than talking other people down or focusing on how types of podcasts that don't deserve listeners, get listeners, maybe it's worth acknowledging that there's all kinds of listeners for different types of content and trying to tap into that, appreciate that everyone listens to different stuff and try to make something that can appeal to a lot of people.' Making content that is appealing to a wide spate of people is no easy task in the modern world and it's something that Say and Gibbons have made pains to improve on in recent years. 'We were talking about this earlier today actually. Something we've crystallised since the start of Swag and we're getting closer and closer to is being able to provide content that anyone can listen to,' Say said. Comedy legend Barry Humphries is among the boys' role models. Openart AI Credit: Supplied 'If you're 15 or 75, we would like to create stuff that anyone can enjoy, anyone can palate. 'While being fresh and interesting is kind of the goal for us, we don't want to exclude any group or person or people from our stuff. 'It's that classic line from when they wrote the Mr. Bean TV show. 'If a joke couldn't be understood by people in Egypt, then it didn't get in'. He's on the extreme level where he didn't even speak, but we're sort of taking a leaf out of that book, which is: Does this allow everyone who can hear and watch our stuff the chance to enjoy it? 'There's only so much you can do as two guys, but we feel like we're getting better at dividing our time and energy up into multiple parts of the industry, which feels like an essential thing.' It's difficult to put your finger on Australian comedy in the same way you can identify dry British humour or brazen American comedies, and the nature of social media skits as an emerging form of content means prospective filmers may lack the comic role models of other mediums. However the boys cast the net wide and believe the vagueness offers an opportunity to cherry pick and aspire to the best. 'We're big fans of Chris Lilly, everything done by Chris Lilly,' Gibbons said. Australian icon in Chris Lilley as Jonah Takalua. Supplied Credit: Supplied 'I love the character comedy and the way he can very convincingly play all different types of characters. Sacha Baron Cohen as well. 'I think the Godfather of Australian comedy, Barry Humphries, is of course iconic. Flight of the Concords is a duo who has a hilarious dynamic and incorporates music which we try to do as well.' '(American and British humour) both are incredible, but I suppose beyond personal preference of the comedy styles, as Australia does in many other ways, we sort of take little bits of longstanding cultures that we like and try and incorporate them into our own things,' Say added. 'Maybe there's a bit of that going on that is forming the Australian comedy style.' The duo has partnered with KitKat to release a line of Commuter Camouflage Hoodies and are celebrating reaching one million followers on Instagram by throwing a party at the Railway Hotel in Brunswick on Saturday, August 30, announcing a secret project they've 'been working on for months'.
DW
4 days ago
- Business
- DW
US greenlights Paramount-Skydance merger – DW – 07/25/2025
President Trump's critics have called out the timing of the FCC's approval to the merger, saying it "reeks of the worst form of corruption." United States regulators approved the $8.4 billion (€7.16 billion) merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media on Thursday, making way for a contentious sale. The deal puts the CBS broadcast television netowrk, Paramount Pictures and the Nickelodeon channels under Skydance Founder and Chief Executive Officer David Ellison. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the deal in a 2-1 vote after receiving pledges that Skydance would install an ombudsman to evaluate complaints of editorial bias or other concerns about CBS. Democrat Anna Gomez, the only dissenter, accused Paramount of "cowardly capitulation" to the Trump administration. The FCC approval comes soon after Paramount paid $16 million (€13.63 million) to settle a lawsuit US President Donald Trump filed against the company and CBS News. Trump's critics have accused him of holding the merger deal's approval as leverage in the lawsuit. This lawsuit was primarily over the election coverage on CBS News' flagship show "60 minutes." In it, Trump accused the media outlet of biased editing of an interview of his opponent Kamala Harris. CBS also canceled "The Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert" last week, after the lead comedian called the lawsuit settlement as "a big fat bribe" to obtain approval for the merger. The media house said nixing the decades-old show, previously hosted by David Letterman, was purely a financial decision. However, Trump celebrated the news on social media, saying: "I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings." Trump's critics have sharply criticized the timing of the FCC decision. "The timing speaks for itself," Democratic Senators Edward Markey and Ben Ray Lujan said in a joint statement. "Paramount settled with Trump on Tuesday and the FCC approved the merger on Thursday," they said, adding that the approval "reeks of the worst form of corruption." "CBS canceled Colbert's show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump — a deal that looks like bribery," Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said on social media platform X.
New York Post
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers and other stars take over ‘The Late Show' audience to support Stephen Colbert after cancellation news
A slew of comedy's biggest stars — including Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, John Oliver, Jon Stewart, Adam Sandler and more — took over the audience of 'The Late Show' with Stephen Colbert Monday night in a show of support after news of the talk show's cancellation mere days after being nominated for multiple Emmys. The battalion of comics, including several competing late-night talk show hosts, headed over to the rival Ed Sullivan Theater to speak out against CBS's decision to axe the top-rated talk show. The cameos began when Colbert brought out 'Weird Al' Yankovic and Lin-Manuel Miranda to play some music to cheer up heartbroken fans. 6 A slew of comedy's biggest stars took over the audience of 'The Late Show' with Stephen Colbert Monday night. CBS The pair played Coldplay's 'Viva la Vida' — a bit poking fun at the Coldplay concert CEO cheating scandal — as the cameras scanned the audience and landed on several famous spectators. Andy Cohen stole a smooch from Anderson Cooper; Fallon and Meyers exchanged high-fives while drinking beers; Sandler, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog (and Robert Smigel), and Christopher McDonald ate fried food in the stands; and Oliver and Stewart threw an excited fit over being on camera. The skit ended with the camera panning over to an animated President Trump holding a Paramount sign before the Trump cartoon ducks, like Astronomer CEO Andy Byron did when caught with alleged HR chief mistress Kristin Cabot on camera at a Coldplay concert last week. Colbert took a shot at Paramount — CBS's parent company — last week when he slammed the $16 million settlement it brokered with Trump over the station's controversial '60 Minutes' interview of Kamala Harris during the 2024 election campaign. Less than three days later, the company announced it was cancelling 'The Late Night Show' after May 2026. 6 The cameos began when Colbert brought out 'Weird Al' Yankovic and Lin-Manuel Miranda to play some music to cheer up heartbroken fans. CBS 6 Fellow late-night TV hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers made an appearance in the audience. CBS During Monday night's episode, Colbert, who took over the show following the legendary David Letterman's departure in 2015, didn't shy away from the topic of his cancellation — using his monologue to bash the network's decision. 'Folks, I'm gonna say it. Cancel culture has gone too far,' he joked at the beginning of the show. The CBS mainstay, while being critically acclaimed, reportedly started losing upwards of $40 million annually off of an already steep $100 million budget per season. 6 John Oliver and Jon Stewart also made a cameo appearance. CBS 6 'Happy Gilmore' stars Adam Sandler and Christopher McDonald were also in attendance. CBS '$40 million's a big number. I could see us losing $24 million, but where would Paramount have possibly spent the other $16 million? Oh yeah,' Colbert added, referring to the settlement. The comedian said he doesn't hold ill will towards CBS, but questioned the reasoning for his show's cancellation. 'How could it purely be a financial decision if 'The Late Show' is number one in ratings?' he asked. 6 (L-R) Oliver, Stewart, Fallon, Meyers, Bravo's Andy Cohen, and CNN anchor Anderson Cooper. CBS Jimmy Kimmel, whose own ABC late-night show is currently on hiatus, was notably missing from 'The Late Show' stands but had earlier shared a message in support of his competitor on social media. 'Love you, Stephen. F—k you and all your Sheldons, CBS,' Kimmel wrote on Instagram last Thursday. Monday night's guests, actor Dave Franco and Golden Globe winner Sandra Oh, also offered their praise of Colbert and sorrow at the show's cancellation.
